In a first, an exclusive contingent of CRPF women commandos trained in VIP security will soon be deployed to secure top politicians like Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leaders
Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra besides other such protectees.
The women commandos under the VIP Security Wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been trained to render an array of duties to protect high-risk personalities, including accompanying them during transits across the country, officials said.
The paramilitary has raised its first-ever contingent of 32 women commandos in its VIP security wing and they will soon be enlisted to secure the high-profile protectees granted Z+ category cover, based in the national capital. The Z+ cover is the highest category next only to the SPG protection to the serving Prime Minister and his or her family.
The women commandos of VIP security contingent have completed their 10-week specialized training in VIP security roles like unarmed combat, body frisking and special weapons firing. They are likely to be deployed VIP protection roles in January next year, they said.
The women commandos will be initially deployed to protect Delhi-based protectees like Shah, Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and son Rahul Gandhi as also former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur.
These top protectees also are provided with an Advanced Security Liaison (ASL) protocol entailing an advance assessment of venues to be visited by them in view of high-risk threats to them.
Later on, a dozen other Z+ category CRPF protectees will have this women commando contingent on a rotational basis, they said.
The women commandos will be deployed as part of the house protection team of these VIPs, proximate security cover besides accompanying them during their travel in the forthcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, possibly in February-March next year.
The women commandos, like their male counterparts, will carry sophisticated close-combat arms, ballistic protection and other security gadgets required for securing the protectees, they added.
The CRPF has six Mahila Battalions (6,000 personnel) comprising combatised
women constabulary as well as officers.